New research may help scientists grow more complex and mature heart tissue in the lab
A team led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has generated premature cells that support early heart development but vanish soon after birth.
Harald Ott, MD
Harald Ott, MD
About Harald Ott, MD
Clinical Interests:
- Robotic surgery
- Airway surgery
- Lung cancer
- Esophageal cancer
- Lung nodules
- Thymoma and surgical treatment of myasthenia gravis
Treats:
- Adult
Languages:
- German
Locations
Division of Thoracic Surgery
55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA 02114-2696
Phone: 617-726-2311
Fax: 617-726-7667
Medical Education
- MD, Leopold-Franzens University
- Universitat Innsbruck
- Residency, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Residency, University Hospital Innsbruck
- Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Fellowship, Toronto General Hospital
American Board Certifications
- Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery - General, American Board of Thoracic Surgery
- Surgery, American Board of Surgery
- Surgery, American Board of Surgery
Accepted Insurance Plans
- Aetna Health Inc.
- AllWays Health (NHP) - ACD
- AllWays Health (NHP) - PBO
- Beech Street
- Blue Cross Blue Shield - Blue Care 65
- Blue Cross Blue Shield - Indemnity
- Blue Cross Blue Shield - Managed Care
- Blue Cross Blue Shield - Partners Plus
- BMC HealthNet Mass Health MCO/ACO
- Cigna (PAL #'s)
- Commonwealth Care Alliance
- Fallon Community HealthCare
- Great-West Healthcare (formally One Health Plan)
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan - ACD
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan - PBO
- Health Care Value Management (HCVM)
- Humana/Choice Care PPO
- Maine Community Health Options (MCHO)
- MassHealth
- Medicare
- Medicare - ACD
- OSW - Maine
- OSW - New Hampshire
- OSW - Rhode Island
- OSW - Vermont
- Private Health Care Systems (PHCS)
- Railroad Medicare
- Railroad Medicare - ACD
- Senior Whole Health
- TriCare
- Tufts Health Plan
- Unicare
- United Healthcare (non-HMO) - ACD
- United Healthcare (non-HMO) - PBO
- Well Sense Pediatrics
Note: This provider may accept more insurance plans than shown; please call the practice to find out if your plan is accepted.
Research
Dr. Harald C. Ott is a thoracic surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital and an Associate Professor in Surgery at the Harvard Medical School. He is best known for his work in whole organ regeneration. He discovered and perfected the method of stripping an organ of its own cells and then infusing the remaining scaffold with new progenitor cells (Perfusion Decellularized Matrix: Using Nature’s Platform for Engineering Bioartificial Heart. Nat Med. 2008 Feb; 14(2):213-21.). To date, his technology has been successfully applied to heart, liver, lung, kidney, and pancreas regeneration. This method of reseeding and engraftment with native cells potentially eliminates donor organ shortage and the need for life-long immunosuppression in transplant patients, and thus lays the path for effective solutions for the millions of people in need of organ repair or replacement. Harald’s background is in surgery (M.D.; University Innsbruck in Austria, 2000) and this training has been an asset for his chosen field of scientific research. The privilege to work with patients suffering from end organ failure provides both motivation and inspiration to continue his work in organ regeneration.
Publications
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View my most recent publications at PubMed
Select Publications:
- Ott HC, Matthiesen TS, Goh SK, Black LD, Kren S, Netoff TI, Taylor DA. Perfusion Decellularized Matrix: Using Nature’s Platform for Engineering Bioartificial Heart. Nat Med. 2008 Feb;14(2):213-21.
- Ott HC, Clippinger B, Conrad C, Schuetz C, Pomerantseva I, Ikonomou L, Kotton D, Vacanti JP. Regeneration and orthotopic transplantation of a bioartificial lung. Nat Med. 2010 Aug;16(8):927-33.
- Song JJ, Guyettte J, Gilpin S, Gonzalez G, Vacanti J, Ott HC. Regeneration and Orthotopic Transplantation of a Bioengineered Kidney. Nat Med. 2013 May;19(5):646-51.
- JP Guyette, SE Gilpin, JM Charest, LF Tapias, X Ren, HC Ott, Perfusion Decellularization of Whole Organs. Nature Protocols. 2014 Jun;9(6):1451-68.
- Kitano K, Schwartz DM, Zhou H, Gilpin SE, Wojtkiewicz GR, Ren X, Sommer CA, Capilla AV, Mathisen DJ, Goldstein AM, Mostoslavsky G, Ott HC. Bioengineering of functional human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived intestinal grafts. Nat Commun. 2017 Oct 10;8(1):765.
- Xi Ren, Philipp T Moser, Sarah E Gilpin, Tatsuya Okamoto, Tong Wu, Luis F Tapias, Francois E Mercier, Linjie Xiong, Raja Ghawi, David T Scadden, Douglas J Mathisen, Harald C Ott. Engineering pulmonary vasculature in decellularized rat and human lungs. Nat Biotechnol. 2015 Oct;33(10):1097-102.